A One Way Path
by Vanessa Li Potter
Summary: In order to change a terrible future, he sacrificed the most important things in his life. Harry is again an eleven year old boy, and as one, he must face all that he did before, but perhaps not in the same way as last time. Non-Epilogue.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I'm only putting this the first time, after all, if you are reading the next chapters is because you have read this one. Most of this belongs to the great and fabulous J.K. Rowling, I'm only trying to put my original thought in some stuff so that it can go my way and not hers, but it's still hers.**

**Now please, enjoy**

**Prologue**

"Ginny! Wake up!" Ron shook her little sister trying to wake her up, but she didn't respond. He noticed the blood on her shirt and yelled with panic "Why?" he turned around and looked at his best friend standing at the other side of the room, pointing his wand at him

"She is not death, but she will be if you don't take her to the hospital soon" answered Harry ignoring the question of his red-haired friend

"I…" Ron returned his sight towards her little sister trying to decide what to do, but he couldn't take her to the hospital, not yet "Why are you doing this?"

"There is something I must do" Harry shivered when he saw the tears falling from his best friend's eyes, tears that represented all the anger and sadness that he must be feeling

"Please, let her go"

"Take Ginny to the hospital if you want her to live"

"She is your wife! The mother of your child! How can you do this to her? To all of us?"

"Ron, take her to the hospital" but it wasn't Harry who had spoken, it was the reason why Ron hadn't left yet

"I won't leave you here! Not with this traitor!" Ron finally moved away from Ginny and looked at Harry in the eyes trying to find an answer

"Harry, don't do anything more, just finish with this"

"Hermione!" yelled Ron trying to run towards where she was sitting, but the shield around her stopped him before he could get any closer

Harry stopped looking at Ron and directed all his sight at Hermione, he pointed his wand and sighed when she smiled at him as relaxed as if she wasn't tied to a chair and warded by a shield that only Harry could trespass.

"I still don't believe this is the right thing to do Harry"

"I must do this"

"I understand. You must do what you must do" Harry closed his eyes trying to stop the tears coming out of his eyes

"What is going on here? Why are you doing this?" Ron fell on his knees and covered his eyes with his hands, silencing the sob that came out of his throat

"I'm sorry that I can't answer your questions Ron" said Harry holding his wand tighter

"I still don't approve this Harry, but my opinion doesn't matter anymore, does it?"

"Your opinion has always matter to me Hermione, and I'm truly sorry that everything has come to this"

"Then, do as you must"

Harry pressed his right wrist with his fingers, making the runes in it glow telling him that he only had some time left for doing it

"Don't do it Harry!" Ron could see the murderous intent in his eyes, but he also could feel the sorrow in him "At least think in our son, she is pregnant!" he yelled and hit the floor with fury knowing that nothing matter anymore

"I know she is pregnant" answered Harry, and by the way he had spoken, Ron thought that something may had changed, that there was still hope

"I love you Hermione"

"And I love you too" and with a smile she whispered other words at the same time that Harry directed the killing curse straight to her chest "Happy Anniversary"

"_Avada Kedavra_"

**-~¬/Author Notes/¬~-**

**Ok. This is my first Harry Potter fic in this page, and it's also my first fanfic in english, well, my first _uploaded_ fanfic.**

**I hope you enjoyed the prologue (perhaps it was too short, but it's just the prologue) and you can expect the first chapter soon, but it would really help one, two or a hundred reviews (motivation!). **

**And... If someone is interested on being beta for this story, I would more than appreciate it (as you can see, my english is way less than perfect... good... whatever).**

**Thank you and... Ja ne!**

**Vanessa Li**


	2. 1 The Hogwarts Express

**First Chapter up. Please enjoy.**

**Oh yeah... No disclaimer, but if you want it, read the prologue**

**1. The Hogwarts Express**

He could hear the loud voices, trunks being carried and crashed all around the place, owls hooting, cats meowing while people tried to find their way, and the steam coming of the scarlet engine near him. He could recognize the chaos and still, it felt like something wrong had happened.

He looked at himself and noticed his familiar, but still horrible, clothing, but he couldn't really figure out if they were the right ones, the ones he was supposed to have been wearing.

And then, he heard them.

"Gran, I think I lost my toad again"

Crap! He yelled on his mind and again looked around trying to confirm the mistake he had made.

"Give us a look, Lee, go on"

He remembered everything, the tarantula, Neville and his toad but then he saw something he hadn't seen the first time; not so far from where he was standing was a small girl standing near the two most normal-looking people in the whole place.

He pulled his sleeve away from his right arm and looked at were the runes had been, where there should still be, but there was nothing. Something had gone horribly wrong.

He pulled his trolley and entered the train looking for an empty compartment, which turned to be the same in which he had been the first time he had rode the train. He sighed and left Hedwig's cage in one of the seats without paying much attention to it, until he remembered.

"Hedwig!" he yelled as happy as he could and almost fell when he threw himself towards the cage with the intention of opening as fast as he could. He opened the window and looked at his beautiful owl, but just when he was about to say something to her, his compartment door opened and he saw one of the people he most had wanted to se again.

"Hey, so it seems that" said one of the twins

"You really are" continued the other

"Yes, he really is"

"Who?" asked Harry knowing perfectly well who 'he' was

"_Harry Potter_" chorused the twins

"It seems that way" he said with a smile "But one can't possibly be sure, can he?" both twins smiled trilled of his answer

"It would seem that"

"Little Harrykins likes to play with words"

"But no, no, he cannot play with words with us"

"No, no, he can't"

"Fred? George? Are you there?"

"Coming, Mom"

They both grinned at Harry and took of to where their mother was. Harry sighed and avoided looking at the window knowing perfectly well the scene that was developing outside.

He wasn't supposed to see that again, he was supposed to come back in a completely different year, in a different place, and specially, in a different day.

He wondered what had gone wrong for several more minutes until he remembered, the last words she had spoken to him. The weight of them fell onto him and he had to look outside, he needed to breathe before the dizziness overcame his body.

Of course it was her fault. She had known exactly how he was planning on doing the travel; she even had helped him with the first stage of the plan until they had figured out what was the detonator, the magic to make the switch possible. And she, Harry couldn't help himself smiling because of the cleverness and simplicity of her actions, had made him lose focus on the time he was supposed to arrive. She had distracted him and made his subconscious overcome the powerful runes on his wrist. It wouldn't be surprising if she had done some other magic of her own to accomplish her purposes.

"_George!_" Harry heard the yell of Mrs. Weasley and came back to reality. He would think later about what else Hermione could have done to make _her _wishes overcome his own.

"Accio Trevor" the train had begun to move and it was time to begin what he had come to do, even if he would have to begin from an earlier time as he had expected.

The toad went flying directly to his hands just seconds before someone entered his compartment and spoke to him with more embarrassment than he remembered from last time.

"Anyone sitting here?" he asked pointing at the empty seat

"No, suit yourself" said Harry putting Trevor next to Hedwig's cage which was by now empty

"Hey Ron, Harry" Harry nodded in acknowledgment "We're going down the middle of the train"

"Could I come?" asked Harry before letting them finish "I found this toad and thought maybe you knew where I could find its owner"

"Sure, I don't know anyone who has a toad but there are a bunch of first years near our friend Lee's compartment, maybe you could ask them"

"Or, you could give it to us and perhaps we could find something to do with it" both twins and Harry started laughing, while Ron looked at them not grasping what had just happened

"I think I will stick with your first option, I don't believe that this toad would survive to see its owner again"

"You're hurting us Harry!" chorused the twins pretending to have a knife stacked on their hearts

"Coming Ron?" asked Harry noticing that he hadn't followed them when they had gone outside the compartment

"Yeah, sure" said Ron with surprise

"I believe that we haven't been formally introduced" said Harry to the three Weasleys "My name is Harry Potter, and you are Fred, George and Ron Weasley. I know because I unintentionally heard you when you were talking to your mother right next to my window"

"We figured as much" said Fred or George, Harry hadn't figured it out yet

"Sorry for our shy little brother and our excited-fan-girl sister"

"Oh yeah!" said Ron finally managing to let go the surprise of Harry knowing his name "It's nice to meet you"

"It's nice to meet you too Ron"

"And here we are" said the twins opening a compartment and revealing five first years who looked at them with shocked on their faces.

Harry felt himself relaxing noticing that Hermione was sitting next to Neville and looking at him with extreme curiosity.

"Hi, I'm Harry Potter and this is Ron Weasley, we found this toad and since Fred and George, who apparently have better things to do," he said watching them enter a compartment not so far from them "said that they didn't know anyone with a toad, we supposed it was from one of our classmates"

"Trevor!" said Neville standing up and grabbing the toad which made the rest finally looked at Harry with more than surprise on their faces

"Hi Harry, my name is Justin Finch-Fletchley and these are Hermione Granger, Dean Thomas, Hannah Abbott and the guy with the toad is Neville Longbottom"

"Nice to meet you" said Harry. It was the first time that he heard with whom had Hermione rode the first time to Hogwarts and he was feeling guilty for not noticing that the first time.

"Would you like to seat here? It's kind of crowdie, but I believe we can manage" said Dean and all of them accommodate themselves so that Ron and Harry could fit with them

"So… you're THE Harry Potter, aren't you?" asked Hannah Abbott

"Yes, I am"

"Wait, Harry Potter?" asked Hermione in almost a yell "I know everything about you!"

"Ehm, are you sure you know everything?" ask Harry with a smile "Because I don't know everything about myself, and perhaps you could enlighten me"

"Oh!" said Hermione blushing fiercely "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that I knew every…"

"I think he understands Hermione" said Dean and everyone started laughing

"Are you a celebrity or something like that?" asked Justin "Because I've no idea who you are, but everyone else seems to know, I could hear all the whispering on the station" Harry sighed

"I'm something like that" even though he was supposed to be unfamiliar with the attention, he couldn't help that some of his past annoyance showed on his face

"Do you seriously not know?" asked Hannah disrupting the minutes of silence that followed Harry's comment

"I had no idea I was a wizard until my letter arrived, I was supposed to go to Eton"

"I only found out because I subscribed myself to the Daily Prophet for the summer, so I could began knowing something about… well… everything" said Dean smiling "There were plenty of articles talking about you Harry, how you would be starting Hogwarts this year and some predictions about how you would be the best in class and everything"

"I don't really think that will happen, I don't posses any special talents that I know of, I don't even know how I became the 'Boy-Who-Lived'"

"So, you don't remember anything about that night?" asked Ron and Harry just shook his head

"Could anyone explain?" said Justin

"According to the books" started Hermione seeing that Harry didn't seem to want to begin "There existed this evil wizard who is referred as You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named"

"And what's his name?" asked Dean "Because that's something I never read"

"Nobody likes to say his name" answered Hannah "When I asked my dad he said that it was a name that made people remember horrible stuff and that's what nobody speaks about it"

"Yes" said Ron "My mum said it too, and when she told me she said it in a tone that makes me shiver every time I hear the name, not that I hear it that often"

"So that's why" said Harry in a whisper that nobody heard

"So, everyone is so afraid of the name that you ended up being afraid of it, that's horrible" said Justin "But, why are you famous Harry?"

"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named attacked Harry's parents and killed them, but when he tried to kill Harry, he ended up dying himself, is that right?" asked Hermione and everyone was looking at Harry now

"I don't really know" he said "Hagrid, the one who gave me my Hogwarts' letter, was the one who explained it to me; Voldemort" Ron and Hannah shuddered at hearing the name "turned up at the place my parents and I were living and he killed them, but for some reason he couldn't kill me"

"So, the name is Voldemort, it does feel weird hearing it and looking at people being afraid of it" said Dean

"Don't say it!" yelled Hannah and Ron at the same time

"And you… you said You-Know-Who's name like nothing! I thought that you, from everyone else… you…"

"I'm sorry" said Harry as honest as he could "It's the second time in my whole life that I talk about this, I'm not used to being afraid of the name" he now understood why wizards didn't want to speak the name so he decided to not continue with the subject for the moment

"So..." said Hermione after several minutes of silence "Have any of you know in which house you'd like to be?"

"What?" asked everyone not grasping what she was talking

"I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best; I hear Dumbledore himself was in it, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad…"

"My family has been in Hufflepuff for several generations, so I suppose I'll end up there" said Hannah smiling "It's suppose to be the house of the good and loyal"

"My mum and dad were Gryffindors" said Neville "But I don't think I'm courageous enough" he blushed as he said it and try to cover by looking at the window

"I believe you are courageous just by admitting your fears Neville" said Hannah

"I'm sure you'll be in Gryffindor Neville" said Harry "If that's want you want there can't be another house that would be better for you"

"In which house you'll think you'll be Harry" asked Hermione

"I don't know, none of them sound bad so I suppose that any of them would be good for me"

"As long as you are not in Slytherin" said Ron

"And what do you have against Slytherin?" asked a boy while opening the door of the compartment

"It's a house full of dark wizards, but I suppose you'll be perfect in it"

"Exactly, I'll be perfect in it, not like yourself, whom by your hair and your second-hand robes are one of the Weasleys, not worthy of any of the houses but, for some strange reason, ended up being in Gryffindor"

Ron stood up and took out his wand pointing it directly at Malfoy's throat, but the blond just laughed and signaled Crabbe and Goyled to enter the compartment while he entered and closed the door behind him.

"What do you think you are doing?" asked Ron with anger on his voice

"Expecting you to realize that I surely know more magic than you, so can't possibly be serious pointing that passed-on wand against me"

"I think that's enough" said Harry pulling Ron's wrist and forcing him to sit down

"So, it's true what they saying all down the train, you are Harry Potter"

"Yes" he answered and a sudden though occurred to him "But I believe we've already met"

"Yes, in Madame Malkin's, my name is Draco Malfoy, and these are Crabbe and Goyle" he said extending his hand

"Nice to see you again" he said taking it and shaking it with a smile "now, let me introduce you to Hannah Abbott, Dean Thomas, Neville Longbottom, Hermione Granger, Justin Finch-Fletchley and Ron Weasley"

Harry noticed that Hermione, Dean, Justin, Hannah and Neville stayed in silence for a second before extending their hands to Malfoy, but Ron watched him with his face still red from the anger.

"Abbott, I know that last name; and of course, Longbottom and I have been introduced before"

"Yes" said Neville "But introduced has been as far as we've been involved, my grandmother doesn't like much to be in the same room as the Malfoys" Draco smiled at him and took his hand

"I haven't heard of you before" said Malfoy to Dean, Justin and Hermione "So, I don't suppose you're from our kind"

"They are wizards, if that's what you mean" said Harry looking at him as if warning him of speaking more than he should

"Yes, perhaps you could be right" was everything he said "Choose well where you stand Potter, you'll realize that some companies are better than others" he looked down with his eyes at Ron and then took off followed by Crabbe and Goyle.

"What did he mean by 'our kind'" asked Hermione

"There are some families that don't believe that muggle-born wizards are, well, wizards" answered Neville "and of course, the Malfoys are one of them. My grandmother is always telling me how they threat everyone as if they were superior; to bad for them, my family is older than his"

"He is an…" but Ron didn't end his phrase

"Racism in the magic world, who would have known" said Dean sighing

"Now, I'm dying of hunger, when or where you think we could get something to eat" asked Harry

"Yes" said Justin while nodding "And by the way, what exactly are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin?"

**-~¬/Author Notes/-~¬**

**Hi! Short Chapter One has finished.**

**I apologize for every grammatical and ortographical error that you may find, I read it and submitted with the best of my knowledge, but I still need a beta (anyone! anyone!).**

**Zero reviews!!! I believe it's the first time that it happens to me, but I will ignore it because I'm good (ha!) generous (h****a!) and because I understand that a two-page prologue does not make a story good enough.**

**And yes, prehaps this is also a very short chapter, but I promise that as the time passes the chapter will be larger and more interesting.**

**Thank you very much for reading and you can expect the next chapter soon (sooner if there are many many many reviews).**

**Ja ne!**


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